"Failproof" Diet

[Alice Henneman]

Hi Everyone!

As summer swimsuit season approaches for many, you or your clients might
enjoy this FoodTalk issue on a "failproof" diet!  Please feel free to use in
any way that may help you in your educational efforts!

Alice Henneman
Extension Educator/Registered Dietitian

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Hello from "FoodTalk" - Read It ... Do It: Food, Nutrition & Food Safety
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                A free monthly "how-to" message from the
        University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension - Lancaster County

TOPIC:  ONE DIET YOU JUST CAN'T FAIL
May, 1998
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Barry J. Farber's first book, "State of the Art Selling," was turned down by
26 publishers before it was accepted for publication.  After about six
rejections, he started calling the publishers for suggestions on
improvement.  He made the recommended changes and tried again. . . and again
.. . . and again.  Did he "fail?"  

NO!  Here's how he described the experience:  
	
        "When the twenty-seventh publisher bought my book, he was not
        getting a manuscript that had failed twenty-six times.  He 
        was getting a manuscript that had benefitted from the advice
        of twenty-six talented, knowledgeable professionals."  

                        — Barry J. Farber, Author, Diamond in the Rough
                        Cited in: Canfield, J. and Hansen, M.V., The Aladdin
                        Factor

A lot of us are trying to make dietary changes.  Many of us, if we fall off
our diets on any particular day, feel as if we're "failing" in our attempts.
The result:  The diet is abandoned and we miss out on lifelong health benefits.

Perhaps our bones suffer because we neglect to get enough calcium.  Or, we
increase our risk for a heart attack because we continue to eat too many
fatty foods.  Maybe our diabetes gets worse because we don't follow the
recommended diet.  

Remember the saying:  "Success is getting up one more time than you fall
down!" Like Farber, we can learn from our experiences until we find what
works for each of us.  Here's an example:

SITUATION: 

Ima Snacker attempts to stop nibbling on high fat, high sugar snacks at
work.  The pounds are creeping up!

---------
ATTEMPT 1: 
---------

Ima went cold turkey and completely avoided snacks at work.

RESULT 1: Ima got hungry by mid-afternoon and ate a doughnut.  She decided
that since the diet was blown she'd go ahead and have a cookie, too . . .
and wash it all down with a soft drink!

---------
ATTEMPT 2: 
---------

Ima brought a banana from home to eat as an afternoon snack.

RESULT 2:  She got called out of the office in the afternoon and didn't eat
the banana. Ima went on vacation the next day. Upon return to work a week
later, she was greeted by the smell of rotten banana!  

---------
ATTEMPT 3: 
---------

Ima brought a less perishable snack -- a low fat, whole grain cereal bar --
to work.

RESULT 3:  The cereal bar worked just fine; but, she forgot to bring
something the next day.  Back to the doughnuts!  Ima felt frustrated and ate
two! 

---------
ATTEMPT 4: 
---------

Ima brought enough nonperishable snacks to last a few weeks -- individual
packages of dried fruit, cartons of juice, low fat crackers, etc.

RESULT 4:  She had a healthy snack each day for a couple of weeks.  Then,
she worked late and didn't get around to buying more snacks to replenish her
supply. Back to the doughnuts -- however, she just ate one this time.  And,
she cut back on dessert at supper that night.

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ATTEMPT 5: 
---------

Ima purchased more snacks a few days before the current supply ran out.

RESULT 5:  SUCCESS!  Plus, Ima learned that a doughnut now and then as part
of a balanced diet can fit in just fine!

Though Ima Snacker's story is fictional, the process she used of learning
from her experiences is real.  Getting up one more time than we fall down
can help us fine-tune a successful -- and satisfying -- diet plan.
Sometimes success comes through evolution, trying one thing and another
until -- Eureka!  We've got it!

______________
ABOUT FOODTALK

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_______________________________________________________________________
Alice Henneman, MS, RD, LMNT, Extension Educator      
University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension in Lancaster County
444 Cherrycreek Rd.;  Lincoln, NE  68528-1507  USA     
PHONE: 402/441-7180  FAX: 402/441-7148  E-MAIL: cnty5028 at unlvm.unl.edu	
Web site: http://www.ianr.unl.edu/ianr/lanco/family/safety.htm
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